Arnhem Land rock rat

Zyzomys maini

Blamed on cats

IUCN status: Vulnerable

EPBC Threat Rating: High/Very High

IUCN claim: “Predation by feral cats may also be a threat.”

Studies in support

Rock rats among small mammals negatively correlated with cat occupancy (Stobo-Wilson et al. 2020a).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

Cats have been documented among a range of ecological variables negatively correlated with Arnhem Land rock rats. Causality cannot be inferred due to confounding variables.

Evidence linking Zyzomys maini to cats. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Zyzomys maini and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Zyzomys maini, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).

Stobo-Wilson, A.M., Stokeld, D., Einoder, L.D., Davies, H.F., Fisher, A., Hill, B.M., Mahney, T., Murphy, B.P., Scroggie, M.P., Stevens, A. and Woinarski, J.C.Z., 2020. Bottom-up and top-down processes influence contemporary patterns of mammal species richness in Australia’s monsoonal tropics. Biological Conservation, 247, p.108638.

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission